Mountain apple (ʻōhiʻa ʻai)

Syzygium malaccense

Crisp, rose-scented fruit from a tree Hawaiians have grown for a thousand years.

Type: small tree · tropical and subtropical food plants
Hardiness: zones 10 to 12
Light: full sun to part shade
Size: about 40 ft tall, 25 ft wide
Harvest: June to September
From: Malesia; a Polynesian canoe plant
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.

Good for: food, pollinators.

Native to: Hawaiʻi & Pacific Islands, South & Southeast Asian tropics, New Guinea & Melanesia. Hardy in zones 10 to 12.

The story

Mountain apple was a canoe plant of the Polynesians, who carried it from Malesia to Hawaiʻi and planted it in the wet valleys; Hawaiians ate the crisp pink fruit, made a dye from the bark, and used the tree in medicine. It grows wild in the uplands of every island.

Planting

Full sun or part shade, moist rich soil, heat, humidity, and shelter from wind; a 40-foot tree. Plant a seedling in the wet tropics.

Growing

Water steadily and mulch; prune to keep it in reach. The red powder-puff flowers come in spring.

Harvest and use

Fruit ripens red in summer, sometimes twice a year; crisp, watery, rose-scented. Eat within a day or two of picking.

What to watch for

Wind, drought, and cold.

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More tropical and subtropical food plants

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home